Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) said: “If Allah wants to good to somebody, He afflicts them with trials”
[Sahih Bukhari: Volume 7, Book 70, Number 548]
Taking a deeper look into the practices and teachings of the religion Islam, first here are the five daily prayers that the Muslims do on a daily basis. Fajr, Dhuhr,’Asr, Maghrib and ‘Isha. These five prayers are doled out into certain time periods from dawn until night time. But what are the importance of each prayer?
The Five Daily Prayers and their Meanings
Let’s start with Fajr, the prayer recited at the start of the day. In Arabic, Fajr means dawn. The prayer starts from the beginning arsof dawn and remains until the sun rises. It is believed that if you start your day with prayers, Allah will protect you throughout the day. In the morning, Angels who were sent by Allah Almighty are there to witness the Muslims who are offering the Fajr prayers. It also saves the Muslim people from hell. It is mentioned in the Hadith that whoever prays before the rising sun will not be sent to hell. The Fajr prayer is composed of two Rakkat prayers, Rakkat and 2 Rakats Sunnah. It is also said that if you miss this prayer at the start of the day, there will be consequences such as your whole day will go wrong because you will miss the blessings of Allah and will earn His displeasure by missing the prayer and lastly, you will be removed by Allah from the list of pious people.
Second, Dhuhr. This prayer starts when the sun declines towards the west from the middle of the sky which means at noon time. This prayer has four Rakats of Sunnah, four Rakat Farz prayer, two Rakat Sunnah and lastly, two Rakat Nafl. The consequences and warnings of missing this prayer at noon time is also significant which is written in both the Quran and Hadith. For example, the time when the gates of Heaven open according to the beliefs of the Muslim people is at noon therefore it is important that you do good deeds at this hour and you will be shielded against the fire of Hell when the judgement day comes.
Third is the ‘Asr prayer which takes place in the late afternoon. This prayer is composed of four Rakat Sunnah before offering four Rakat Fard prayers. This prayer is believed to save Muslims from entering hell and granting them access to the door of Jannah as well as Allah giving them success in life and afterlife. However, if the Muslims fail to offer the Asar prayer, this could make Allah punish them on the grave, destroy them on the day of judgement and they would have no reward from Allah for all the other good deeds they have done in life. If this prayer is overlooked, this can cause nullification for all the good deeds they did for the day as well as Allah would take away all their wealth because this prayer is important for health and wealth of the family.
The fourth prayer is called Maghrib which is prayed at sunset. The time for this prayer may differ but as long as the sun is setting, this is the time to offer this prayer no matter where you are. This prayer has seven Rakats which is composed of, three Rakats Fard, two Rakats Sunnah and two Rakats Nafl. The benefits of this prayers are, Allah would fulfill all your Dua’s and wishes as well as giving your family good success and wealth. But, there are still consequences if this prayer is failed to be offered by the Muslim people. The Dua’s of the people will not be fulfilled as well as their blessings will be taken away.
Lastly, we have the prayer to be offered late at night, which is called Isha and it is supposed to end at midnight. It includes four of the Rakats Fard prayer,four Rakat Sunnah, two Rakat Sunnah, two Rakat Nafl, and three Witr. Offering this prayer will guarantee you peaceful nights ahead and Allah would shower his blessings upon you and listen more to your Dua’s. However, if this prayer is forgotten, you will miss Allah’s blessings throughout the night. This concludes one of the five pillars of the religion Islam which is Salat. This is very important to the religion and it is known as the second most important pillar.
The Other Pillars of Islam and their meaning
The next pillar is Shahadah. This means the Muslim people reciting the proclamation of their faith which is called the Kalimah translation meaning, “There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his messenger”. Another one is Hajj, wherein all Muslims must undergo a pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam’s most holy site atleast once in their lifetime. Next will be the Sawm, which is the fasting ritual observed during the period of Ramadan and last but not the least is Zakat which is all about giving charity to the poor.
With strict abidance to these religious practices, and using these teachings to make the best of life, here are some of the things that could be learned by understanding the essence of these practices.
Core Teachings of Prophet Muhammad Number one, is Actions are judged by the intention behind them. The religion does not tolerate otherwise because everything that happens in life has a reason. Next, we have part of a person’s good observance of Islam is to leave aside what does not concern him because despite the prohibition in clothing and other aspects, the religion still teaches us that its people have the right to life their lives the way they want. Another one is, never let your worldly focus be on material gain and God will love you. Never be concerned with what other people have and you don’t because you are perfect just the way you are. God loves you for who you really are.
